Island



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WM. FIELD, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

MACHINE FOR MAKING THIMBLES FOR RIGGING, &C.

Specification of Letters Patent No.

To all w/Lom` t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM FIELD, of the city and county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Machine for Forming Thimbles for Ship-Rigging and other Purposes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descript-ion of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which* Figure l is a. perspect-ive view, Fig. 2 a front elevation, and Fig. 8 a plan view.

The same letter is used to designate the same part in all the figures, viz:

A, bed-plate of the lower frame; B, B, standards of the lower frame; C, bed-plate of the upper frame; D, D1, D11, Dm, standards, or puppet heads; E, El, plates projecting from the lower side of the bed-plate C to support the crank shaft G; E, fly-wheel keyed to the crank shaft G; Gr crank shaft, running in bearings in the plates E, El; H, pitinan, worked by the crank G, and connecting it with the lever I; I, lever, connected with the pitman H, by a hinge joint at a, and attached to the middle standards D1, D11, at the other end b by a pin passing through it and said standards; J, hand-wheel shaft, running in bearings in the outside standards D, Dm; K, hand-wheel, keyed on the shaft J L, L1, pinions, keyed on the shaft J, and working the spur wheels M, M1; M, M1, spur wheels, keyed on the arbors N, N; N, N, arbors, running in bearings in the standards D, D1, D11, D111, on which they have also a sliding motion toward and from each other, communicated by the levers T, T1, whereby they are brought into contact with each other at C, previous to forming the thimble, and are separated when it is completed, in order to let it out of the groove. Into the end of each arbor a partial groove is cut, so that when they are united, a groove is formed (at c) corresponding to the inner surface of the thimble. There are also rectangular grooves cut at e, el, for the reception of pins from the levers T, T1; O, former attached to the lever I, immediately below the groove c, and having its face concave in a direction at right angles to the axis of the arbors, and convex in a direction parallel therewith, being dressed in t-he first direction to the same radius as that of the outside of the thimble, and in the other direc- 9,402, dated November 16, 1852.

tion to the same radius as that of the groove around the thimble. This former is so constructed, and fitted to the lever I, as that when the crank is at the upper limitof its stroke, said former will envelop somewhat more than one quarter of the groove around the arbors, and will extend from immediately below t-he arbors to half way up the back side thereof, leaving a space between t-he groove and said former, just equal to the thickness of the iron in the thimble when completed. There is a tenon extending from the bottom of the former O, which lits into a square hole in the lever I, by which arrangement formers of diierent sizes may be used; P, lever-handle, keyed to the shaft Q; Q, shaft, running in caps and bearings g, g, bolted to the bed plate A. R, collar, fastened to the shaft Q, and having crank pins L, h, to which are att-ached the shacklebars S, S1. S, S1, shackle bars, working on pins in t-he collar R, and connected by hinge joints with the lower end of the levers T, T1. T, T1, levers, passing through the plate C, to which they are attached by the fulcrum pins f f, passing through them and said plate. The upper end of these levers are constructed so as to embrace the arbors on both sides at e, 6 having pins projecting into the rectangular grooves e, el, in said arbors.

In working machines the ends of the arbors near c, are made separate from the remaining part, and are fitted into a hole drilled through the latter; by which arrangement these ends, or mandrels may be changed so as to make thimbles of various sizes.

The pit-man H, should be made capable of adjustment lengthwise, in order to raise and lower the former O, to accommodate the various thicknesses of iron used for the same sized thimble.

The various parts of this machine are made of iron, steel, and such other metals as are usually used in the construction of like parts of similar machines.

In operating this machine, the iron for the thimble is prepared of the requisite length, width and thickness, and heated. A rotary motion is imparted to the fly-wheel by suitable machinery, which causes the former O, to approach and recede from the groove c. The iron for the thimble is entered from the front of the machine by the operator holdmoving the lever-handle P to the right of its position as shown on the drawings, the arbors N, N1, are drawn apart, and the thimble drops out from its position as formed on the groove.

Having thus described my improved machine for forming thimbles, etc., what I claim therein as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- Arranging the two halves of the forming groove upon the adjacent ends of two independent revolving mandrels or shafts which are free to slide toward and from each other so as to hold the two halves of the groove in contact while the article is being shaped, and to separate the two halves of the groove to allow the finished article to drop out. I also claim the combination of the divided shaping groove with a reciprocating former operating in connection therewith substantially as herein set forth.

WILLIAM FIELD.

lVitnesses JAMns I-IU'roHIsoN, WILLIAM E. BROWN. 

